Duo Sequenza has invited composers to an exciting collaboration: an album of new music for flute and classical guitar duo that will showcase a very old and rare flute! We issued a Call for Scores, and 37 composers from all over the WORLD have thrown their hats in the ring! The selected compositions will be recorded by Duo Sequenza (Debra Silvert and Paul Bowman) for an historic Navona Records release “Yes…It’s a FRAGILE Thing!”

The Laurent Crystal Flutes inspire more mystique than any other flute. Flutists dream of owning one; history buffs dream of hearing one played. With only 150- 160 known extant examples of this type of flute worldwide, two thirds of which are in museums, few are actively played (we know of four), and therefore rarely heard. Read more here. 

These flutes were proudly owned by royalty (several by the Bonapartes) and given as gifts to heads of state. President James Madison’s crystal Laurent reposes in the Library of Congress. Today, they may appear unexpectedly almost anywhere…a friend of the late flute historian David Shorey stumbled upon the Silvert Laurent at a Florida estate sale in 1997! We can only imagine its previous life. How many years had it waited for its ducet sound to be brought to life again?

Our performances with this flute have consistently drawn larger, more diverse audiences, hence we believe this recording project is an important strategy for our audience development mission. This collaborative project's major goal is to recruit new listeners for contemporary classical music. 

Gary Schocker’s “Crystal Healing” has already been recorded for this album and may be heard here (unmastered) for inspiration.